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T Hennessy

Publications and source records attributed to T Hennessy.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Evaluation of the magnitude of the 1993 hantavirus outbreak in the southwestern United States.

In May 1993, an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the southwestern United States was caused by the previously unrecognized Sin Nombre virus (SNV). Most HPS patients had an influenza-like prodrome, followed by rapid onset of pulmonary edema (fatality rate, 52%). To define the magnitude of the outbreak, patients with milder illnesses who sought medical care in the outbreak area during the outbreak period were assessed for infection with SNV. Of 299 study subjects, 43 had illnesses similar to the HPS prodrome. One laboratory finding, thrombocytopenia, was highly discriminatory between non-HPS patients (1%) and confirmed HPS patients (71%; P < .001) during the prodrome phase. No study subject had serologic evidence (IgM antibodies) of recent SNV infection. Five had IgG titers consistent with a previous hantavirus infection: 3 of these 5 were among the 43 patients who had illnesses similar to the HPS prodrome (P < .05). These data provide evidence that mild illness is rarely caused by SNV.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Proliferation of normal and malignant human epithelial cells post irradiation.

Fragments of human oesophageal mucosa, urothelium, squamous and adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and carcinoma of the bladder have been plated in culture and irradiated. The cells growing from the explanted tissues have then been studied for four weeks post irradiation to assess the overall rate of growth from the irradiated explants and the fraction of proliferating cells. The results show that when using cell number as an endpoint it is possible to derive growth curves from this type of data which permit a doubling time to be obtained for the cell population surviving different doses. In an attempt to determine the proliferating fraction of the cell population, cultures were labelled at appropriate intervals with tritiated thymidine and were also stained with Ki-67 antiproliferating antigen. The results show an interesting relationship between the dose response obtained for cell labelling with tritiated thymidine and area of cellular outgrowth. Ki-67 staining when used carefully and analysed as described was a useful indicator of proliferating cells. The results provide a means of determining the post irradiation growth potential of fragments of tissue from human organs and may be important for determined overall response of the tumour bulk to proposed treatment.

Autoradiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Initial experience with percutaneous balloon mitral commissurotomy.

Percutaneous Transvenous Mitral Commissurotomy (PTMC) is an alternative to surgical mitral valvuloplasty for treatment of selected patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis. We report our initial experience with the technique in 10 patients. The procedure was successful in all patients. There were no major complications. Mitral valve area increased from a mean (+/- SD) of 0.95 +/- 0.2 to 2.18 +/- 0.8 cm2. Transmitral pressure gradient fell from 12 +/- 8 to 4 +/- 5 mmHg while New York Heart Association functional class improved by 1 grade or more in all patients. PTMC is a safe and cost effective alternative to surgical mitral valvotomy in appropriately selected cases.

Aged↗